Drawing board easel



Oct. 18, 1949. s. A. VAULE ETAL 2,485,517

DRAWING BOARD EASEL Filed Dec. 22, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 v [lave/12%; 1562619. VCZLZ/ZIE' 5mm. Vaule Patented Oct. 18,1949

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DRAWING BOARD EASEL Sven A. Vaule'and' Rae D. Va'ule, Freeport, Ill.

- Application December 22, 1945, Serial No. 636,556-

7. Claims;

This invention relates to a new and improved drawing. board easel; especially designed and adapted for use. in the home: and schoolroom, and having the drawing. boards on o osite sides of the easel adjustable quickly and easily up and down to suit users of. various heights.

The easel of our invention also embodies the following features:

1. The clamping: bolts projecting from the drawing boards and adjustable up and down in slots in the legs of the easel have large, fiat, thin heads which fit in recesses in strips applied to the backs. of the drawing boards, thus,v obviating the necessity for having any holes in the drawing. board proper or having any exposed fastening screws or the like, inasmuch as the: strips may be glued to the back ofthe drawing boards, this con.- struction, incidently; adding. strength and stiffmess to the boards.

2. There is a paint and crayon trough on the bottom portion of eachdrawing board which is adjustable with the boardand. also: tends to add rigidity.

3. A paper container is hinged at one end to one section of the easel between the. legs thereof and is arranged t9. rest on a ledge provided on the other section of the easel when the easel. is unfolded for use; thus making the drawing material in the container easily accessible for use. while at the same time enabling the storage of the drawing material insidev the easel when the easel; is folded, the container being: foldable: up.- wardly between the legs of the one section and; having a suitable catch to lock the same releasably in the folded position.

4. The paper container has a horizontally projectingflange on the top thereof at the hinged end so asto form a pocket to: retain. drawings and; drawing material left in the container when the same is folded upbetween the legs of the easel.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is aside view of av drawing board easel made in accordance with our invention, the one paint and crayon trough and the paper-container and adjacent portions of the easel :being shown. in section for purposes of better illustration;

Figs. 2 and. 3 are perspective views of the easel. in unfolded and. folded. conditions, these two views showing the: two drawing boards adjusted to 2 different elevations to suit two children of difierent sizes;

Fig. 4 is a front view of Fig. 1, and

Fig. 5 is a sectional detail on. the' line 55 Fig. 4. i

The same reference numerals are applied to corresponding partsthrough the views.

The easel indicated generally by the reference numeral 6 comprises sections I and 8 hingedly connected at the. top as indicated at 9 to unfold to the condition shown in. Figs. 1v and 2v for use and fold to the condition shown in Fig. 3 for storage. Section 8e of the easel. has its legs [:0 and II connected by the cross-pieces I2 and l3, whereas the legs M and id of section I are connected by only one cross-piece Hi, the hinges 9 at the upper ends of these legs connecting. the same to the upper ends of the legs It and H of the other section being sufiicient along with the cross-piece Hi to give rigidity to: section 1. Two drawings boards I1 and [8' are. mounted onoppo site sides of the easel andhavebolts' I9' projecting therefrom and entered in. slots 20: provided in legs lll-l.l and 15- 1-5 of the easel, The drawing boards are preferably made at plywood as indicated in section in Fig. 5 and are preferably reinforced by applying pl'ywood strips 2|; to the back along the opposite side portions, another plywood strip 232 being preferably applied to the back across the topportion. These strips 21v and 22 are preferably glued tothe drawing boards so that no fastening screws or the like will be exposed: on the working surface; The bolts: H), for a similar reason, are of a type having broad, fiat heads 23. which are countersunk in; recesses'provided therefor in the strips 21:, for good anchorage. and rigidity of the bolts. Iii preferred, the recesses 23 may be provided in the backs of the boards H and I8; or partly in the: strips 21 and partly in the boards. The bolts receive wing: nuts 24 or other nuts and washers 25 on their projecting ends, and when these nuts are tightened, the: drawing boards are held. firmly izn'. adjusted positions and: the entire easel is Bound to be quite: sturdy and rigid: and capable of withstandingthe rough. usage it is; aptv to get fromyoungsters.

, The two. drawing. boards: I!! and lz8"may,.offcourse,

children and adults. The fact that two children are accommodated at one time is, of course, a big advantage not only from the standpoint of economy in cost, but economy in space in the home and schoolroom. It also eliminates likelihood of children quarreling over the use of a single board and tends to promote desirable competition along educational lines.

Each of the drawing boards has a paint and crayon trough 26 built onto the lower portion thereof for storage of paints and crayons, the board itself forming the back wall of the trough as indicated at 21 so that only the bottom, front and two ends are required to complete the same. A cross-piece 28 is glued or otherwise suitably secured to the front of the board in the upper rear portion of the trough and has a suitable recess 29 provided therein to accommodate paint brushes and crayons. There is also preferably a partition 30 in each trough at an intermediate point. With this construction, it is obvious that the troughs adjust up and down with the drawing boards, which, of course, is highly desirable, and the troughs lend strength and rigidity to the drawing boards and take the place of an additional crosspiece that might otherwise be required on the back of each drawing board on the lower portion for stiffness and strength.

The paper container 3| is in the form of a sheet metal tray of rectangular form narrow enough to fit between the legs llll I and Hi! 5, as clearly indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 4, so that the container may be folded from its horizontal operative position shown in Figs. 1 and 2 up into a vertical position between the legs of the easel when the easel is folded as shown in Fig. 3. The container 3| is for paper and other drawing materials and is hinged at one end as indicated at 32 to the upper inner portion of the cross-piece l3 so that in folding, it will move to a position over the cross-piece l3 and between the legs 10 and II. The cross-piece I2 is located far enough above the cross-piece I3 to afford clearance there-beneath for the container in its folded position and there is a spring pressed bullet type catch 33 on the cross-piece l2 which engages behind a keeper 34 on the free end of the con tainer to lock the container releasably but securely in its folded position. The catch yields easily enough so that the container can be unfolded for use by a pull on the handle 39 that is pivoted at 40 to fold flat against the bottom of the container. That portion of the container which projects from the section 8 of the easel in the folded position of the container will be accommodated between the legs l4 and [5 of section I so that there is nothing to interfere with the folding of the easel to a compact size. The transverse flange or lip 35 across the top of the hinged end of the container is a very handy addition to the container because it forms a pocket in the lower end of the container to retain the drawings and drawing materials when the container is folded up. A pair of ledges 35 are provided on the cross-piece 16 for support of the free end of the container 3| in its unfolded operative position, and one or two chains 3'! connected at their opposite ends to the sections 1 and 8 of the easel serve to limit the spreading apart of these sections when the easel is unfolded for use, thereby eliminating likelihood of the free end of the container 3! slipping off the ledges 3B and spilling the contents.

It should be evident from the foregoing description that we have provided a drawing board easel having many advantages and highly desirable features and yet the construction is relatively simple and inexpensive.

It is believed the foregoing description conveys a good understanding of the objects and advantages of our invention. The appended claims have been drawn to cover all legitimate modifications and adaptations.

We claim:

1. An easel comprising two frame sections of skeleton construction hingedly connected at the top to be foldable together for storage and unfoldable to spread apart relationship for use, a drawing board mounted on the outer face of each of said frame sections leaving storage spaces behind the same within the frame sections, and a tray-like container for paper and drawing materials hingedly connected at one end to one of said frame sections and foldable from an operative position disposed horizontally between and supported at opposite ends upon the spread apart frame sections to a raised inoperative position disposed between and,substantially parallel to the drawing boards and housed in the storage spaces in the frame sections in their folded' together relationship.

2. An easel comprising two frame sections of skeleton construction hingedly connected at the top to be foldable together for storage and unfoldable to spread apart relationship for use, a drawing board mounted on the outer face of each of said frame sections leaving storage spaces behind the same within the frame sections, a tray-like container for paper and drawing materials hingedly connected at one end to one of said frame sections and foldable from an operative position disposed horizontally between and supported at opposite ends upon the spread apart frame to a raised inoperative position disposed between and substantially parallel to the drawing boards and housed in the storage spaces in the frame sections in their folded together relationship, and catch means on the same frame section onto which the container is hinged for releasably locking said container to said frame section in the raised inoperative position of said container.

3. An easel comprising two frame sections hingedly connected at the top to be foldable together for storage and unfoldable to spread apart relationship for use, one of said sections having vertically extending, substantially parallel, elongated slots in the opposite side portions thereof, and a drawing board mounted on said easel section having clamping bolts projecting from the back thereof on the opposite side portions thereof and movable vertically in said slots for up and down adjustment of said board, and having nuts threaded on said bolts tightenable against the slotted frame section to hold the drawing board in selected positions of adjustment.

4. An easel comprising two frame sections hingedly connected at the top to be foldable together for storage and unfoldable to spread apart relationship for use, one of said sections having vertically extending, substantially parallel, elongated slots in the opposite side portions thereof, a drawing board mounted on said easel section having clamping bolts projecting from the back thereof on the opposite side portions thereof and movable vertically in said slots for up and down adjustment of said board, and having nuts threaded on said bolts tightenable against the slotted frame section to hold the drawing board in selected positions of adjustment, and a trough for paints and crayonsprovided on the lower portion of said drawing board as an integral portion thereof for adjustment up and down with said board.

5. As an article of manufacture, a substantially rectangular drawing board adapted to be mounted on an easel in an upright position, a trough for paints and crayons of box-like form built onto the lower portion of said drawing board and utilizing said lower portion as the back wall of the trough, said trough reinforcing the lower portion of said drawing board and eliminating need for other reinforcing in this portion, and there being reinforcing members applied to the back of said drawing board extending vertically along opposite side edge portions and across the upper edge portion, and flat headed bolts for fastening said drawing board to an easel, said bolts extending from the back of said drawing board through holes in said reinforcing members, the heads of said bolts being received in recesses provided therefor between said drawing board and reinforcing members.

6. An easel comprising two frame sections hingedly connected at the top to be foldable together for storage and unfoldable to spread apart relationship for use, one of said sections having vertically extending, substantially parallel, elongated slots in the opposite side portions thereof, and a thin drawing board panel mounted on said easel section, reinforcing strips applied to the back of said panel, and flat headed bolts entered in said slots for fastening said drawing board panel to said easel section, said bolts extending from the back of said drawing board panel through holes in said strips and having the heads thereof received in recesses provided therefor between said drawing board panel and strips, said bolts having nuts threaded thereon tightenable against the slotted easel section to hold the drawing board in selected positions of adjustment.

7. An easel comprising two frame sections 6 hingedly connected at the top to be foldable together for storage and unfoldable to spread apart relationship for use, one of said sections having vertically extending, substantially parallel, elongated slots in the opposite side portions thereof, and a substantially rectangular drawing board adapted to be mounted on said easel section in an upright position, a trough for paints and crayons of box-like form built onto the lower portion of said drawing board and utilizing said lower portion as the back wall of the trough, said trough reinforcing the lower portion of said drawing board and eliminating need for other rein forcing in this portion, and there being reinforcing members applied to the back of said drawing board extending, vertically along opposite side edge portions and across the upper edge portion, and flat headed bolts for fastening said drawing board to said easel, said bolts extending from the back of said drawing board through holes in said reinforcing members, the heads of said bolts being received in recesses provided therefor between said drawing board and reinforcing members, said bolts having nuts threaded thereon tightenable against the slotted easel section to hold the drawing board in selected positions of adjustment.

SVEN A. VAULE. RAE D. VAULE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 323,350 McKenzie July 28, 1885 412,075 Douglas Oct.1, 1889 864,954 Craig Sept. 3, 1907 871,934 Henderson Nov. 26, 1907 1,680,056 Mathias Aug. 7, 1928 1,757,032 Wilson May 6, 1930 

